A message from the Chief Executive Officer

Welcome to the Arab Bankers’ Association!

We are an association of bankers and finance professionals who work in Arab financial markets. Most of our members, both corporate and individual, are based in the U.K. but a significant proportion are based outside. Nearly all of us have spent much of our professional lives living and working in the Arab world.

Our aims are simple: to foster improved relations, information sharing and understanding between the private and public sectors in the Arab world and the U.K. We achieve this through our programme of evening seminars and social events, through tailored events for individual members and their clients, and through personal interaction and introductions that are based on decades of business experience.

You will find more information about our work on the various pages of this website. For example, elsewhere on this page you can download a copy of our Annual Magazine; on the “Events” page you can download presentations given at recent evening seminars; and soon we will be adding a new page to our website -- “Arab Banking News” – where you will see a brief round-up of recent events that are relevant to our membership.

The “Join” page also contains a full list of member benefits.

This is an exciting time for Arab banks and their subsidiaries and affiliates in London. Gulf banks are looking to expand their international operations, banks in Egypt and other north African countries are finding their footing after the uncertainties of the Arab Spring, and debt issuance across the region is increasing.

London hosts the largest and most important banking community in Europe, so its not surprising that it is in London that many of the innovative new financial structures that are shaping Arab finance are designed and sold.

The ABA has been serving and promoting Arab banking in London for more than 30 years and we are as enthusiastic and committed to our mission today as we were on the day we were founded. If you are a member, I look forward to working alongside you in the months ahead. If you are not a member, I hope you will consider joining us.

Events ,
ABA Events
We wil be holding our Eid Dinner on Thursday 7 July at Maroush Gardens. The dinner will begin at 7.30pm, for 8pm.
The dinner is being sponsored by Bank ABC, QIB UK and National Bank of Kuwait.
Tickets cost £75 for members of the Assocation and £100 for non members. It is possible to book full tables.
For reservations please contact the Association's office on 020 7659 4889 and 020 7659 4892 or at office@arab-bankers.co.uk.

News
A bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Blom Bank, in the Verdun district of Beirut, in the evening of Sunday 12 June. The timing of the attack and the placement of the bomb imply that the intention was to damage the building rather than to kill people, although two people were wounded.
The Arab Bankers Association condemns this attack and sends its best wishes to the staff of Blom bank and their families at this difficult time.
Blom issued a statement that expressed its relief that the bombing had not led to loss of life but only physical damage. It said that that no documents or pap...

Events ,
ABA Events
Our latest 'Corporate Members' lunch, held on 3 June, addressed new regulations and laws that affect the reporting of wealth and taxes. The lunch was sponsored by KPMG.
Representatives from thirteen Corporate Members attended the lunch. The discussion was led by three senior executives from KPMG:
Mike Walker: Partner, Private Client Advisory
Derek Scott: Associate Partner, Head of Tax Investigations
Mariam Moi: Senior Manager
The KPMG experts pointed to the heightened rhetoric from the UK government on issues of tax evasion and the use of offshore companies as investment vehicles. They...

News
The Arab Bankers Association wishes its members and their families all the best for the holy month of Ramadan.
We take this occassion to remind everyone that we will be holding our Eid dinner on Thursday 7 July. (This is not an Iftar, so will start around 7.30pm. More details will follow soon.)

Events ,
ABA Events
ABA's annual seminar on FX and Commodities featured four prominent experts and was led by Marwan Dagher, HSBC's head of institutional sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Janet Henry, HSBC's Global Chief Economist began the seminar with an overview of global growth trends, pointing out the significant role that EU governments are playing in driving European growth, and analysing the role of China in stimulating growth in the global economy. She was followed by David Bloom, HSBC's Global Head of FX strategy who delivered a typically entertaining, but also incisive, analysis of the r...